


As Fate Intended

by kyrdwyn



Series: Flashwave Week 2017 [7]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Explicit Language, FlashWave Week 2017, I might have gotten details wrong, Invasion! Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), M/M, Mick Rory Deserves Better, Multi, Somewhat Dark fic, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, but it is an AU after all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 07:14:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11984844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyrdwyn/pseuds/kyrdwyn
Summary: But never in a million years, in any alternate Earth or alternate timeline, did he think those words would be uttered by Mick Rory.





	As Fate Intended

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is for Flashwave 2017 day 7 - Freeform.
> 
> it's also part of my Camp Nanowrimo work for July of 2017 that I finished for this challenge. So y'all are getting long rambly introspection and soulmate tropes because that's what I do.
> 
> Set during the "Invasion!" crossover eps, but very much an alternate version of events. Because I could.
> 
> Not entirely happy with the ending, but that's where the characters said to stop. And arguing with them is usually futile.

It was inevitable, in any group of people, that the discussion of soulmates would come up. Well, except for prison, Mick thought as he watched the group of heroes on the _Waverider_ gravitate toward that discussion. In prison everyone tended to keep their soulmates to themselves, in order to protect those who had no choice about who they were bonded to.

They'd had this discussion once, back when Rip Hunter was still captain and they'd been trying to stop Vandal Savage. Kendra and Carter had been, of course, and Rip was so clearly a man suffering from a torn soul bond that it was a miracle he was functional, much less that no one else wanted to stop him from doing something stupid in the name of regaining his soulmate.

But now that Amaya and the new Pretty Boy were on board, the discussion was happening again. Mick sat in the corner of the bridge, near Rip's old office, and listened to Stein go on about his soulmate, the ever patient Clarissa, who he was married to. Jax hadn't met his soulmate yet. Ray hadn't said either way, but for all his optimism, he didn't seem to be happy about having one, or even eager to find them.

Sara, Nate, and Amaya admitted to being marked and that was all. Nothing about whether or not they had found their mate. For Sara and Amaya, that didn't surprise Mick. It did surprise him that Pretty Boy was keeping it close to the chest.

None of them asked Mick about his soulmate. They hadn't the last time either - him or Len. Mick wouldn't have told them, anyway. He knew he had one, had the words on his thigh, words that he had always wondered about the context they would be said in. Some soulmates had the first words their mate (or mates) would say on their body, and some had a set of significant words, which could be spoken by someone they had met before, but only now were the souls ready to find each other again. You never knew which set of words you had until it happened.

Mick didn't know which one his was. All he knew was that at some point, his mate would object to someone's treatment of him, based on his words.

_You could stay here, with us. Work with us. They don't appreciate you out there, Mick. You don't need to stay with them._

Sometimes he thought that maybe it was something else those words referred to, but the fact that his soulmate would possibly object to how his crewmates, his friends, treated him made it easier to endure the little stings and barbs aimed his way. He'd been one of the most successful bounty hunters for the Time Bastards, he could fly time ships and track people through centuries, but to everyone here, he was nothing more than a dumb brute that liked to set things on fire. So he gave them what they wanted to see, or what they would only see.

He knew, more than he let on, about how no one wanted to talk to him, how they all played childish games of 'not it' to avoid telling him they had a mission. They forgot that he'd been the one who had nearly killed them, the one who Einstein had connected with, the one who had helped save them from the Hunters and the Pilgrim.

The others began trickling off the bridge, so he waited until they were all gone, off to wherever they thought they needed to go. Getting up from his perch next to Rip's office, Mick walked toward the pilot's console. Gideon was in charge of flight in the temporal zone at the moment, and Mick reviewed the readouts, seeing nothing alarming. He moved away to watch the green waves of the temporal zone as the _Waverider_ flowed through them.

"Is everything all right, Mr. Rory?" Gideon asked.

He grunted in response, not really up for conversation, not in the open like this. Fortunately, Gideon did not take offense at his silence.

"We will be coming up on the Temporal Fire Mount in five minutes, if you would like to remain on the bridge," Gideon offered instead. "My counterpart on your ship indicated that you enjoyed watching as you passed that temporal landmark."

Mick smiled. "Godfrey was a good AI. Sorry we had to leave him in 1960."

"Through the Chronos suit, part of him was uploaded into my systems, to allow me to navigate changes in the time stream. That is how I know what he knew about you." Gideon paused. "However, I am unable to divulge any of his information to any of the crew, including Captain Lance or Captain Hunter, without your permission."

Mick glanced up at the ceiling, surprised that Gideon would withhold information from Rip or Blondie. "Thanks," he said. "I'd prefer you not." Maybe, if his life was in danger, he'd authorize it, but not now.

"Understood, Mr. Rory." The AI went silent and Mick continued to watch the temporal zone out of the bridge window. Within the promised five minutes, the Fire Mount appeared, a massive peak of red, orange, and yellow temporal energy, dancing within the green like a flame, drawing Mick's attention to it. He watched with rapt fascination as it swirled and dipped as they flew toward it.

"What is that?" a voice behind him asked in alarm. It sounded like Pretty Boy.

"Temporal Fire Mount," Mick grunted. "Remnants of a Time Master ship whose time drive exploded while in the temporal zone. Been burning ever since. Centuries, I think. Probably will be burning until the end of time itself."

"Gideon?" Stein's voice asked, and Mick stiffened.

"Mr. Rory is correct, Dr. Stein," she replied, without elaborating.

"Well, I suppose there is a first time," Stein replied, and Mick didn't react, as much as he wanted to. He just kept watching the Fire mount until it disappeared.

Gideon and Godfrey were right, he did like to watch the Fire Mount. It was destructive within the temporal zone, but yet soothing. the colors of flame also reminded him of the flash, a reminder that was tinged with his feelings over Len's sacrifice, but becoming less painful as time went one, and yet more painful with each comment digging at him by a member of his crew.

When the Fire Mount was out of view, Mick kept staring out the windows, just waiting to see what else the crew was going to do.

"Are we ready?" Sara asked as she strode onto the bridge.

"For what?" Jax asked, saving Mick from asking the question and probably getting a condescending (and yes he did know what that word was, he wasn't stupid, even before the Time Bastards shoved information into his head) pat on the head and sent off to let the adults talk.

"The Green Arrow and the Flash need our help in 2016," Sara said as she settled into her seat. Mick moved away from the window and to his seat without a word, putting the harness on. He let the others speculate on what was going on. He just wondered if he'd have time to see Lisa while he was there. He hadn't seen her since just after Rip had taken him to see an earlier Len. She'd been a wreck, but then again, Len and Lisa had been sibling soulmates. Rare for such pairings, platonic not romantic, but being soulmates had saved Len and Lisa more than once, whether from their bastard of a father or from themselves. But Lisa, unlike Rip, didn't seem to be going mad with loss. Maybe because the two had often been apart. But she'd been glad to see Mick anyway, and the two of them had spent an evening drinking and mourning Len.

Grabbing his heat gun as they landed outside the very large STAR Labs hanger, Mick hung back and let the others take the lead. If they didn't need him, he'd take the jump ship and go visit Lisa, let the others deal with the heroes. He didn't need them.

Even as there was a part of him that did need them, a part that he squashed as soon as the first dig was made against him.

Who needed this crap anyway?

* * *

Mind control. Alien fucking mind control. As if what the Time Bastards had done to him hadn't been enough, these aliens had gotten him, Palmer, Stein, Jax, Helmet guy, the Speedy chick, and Skirt. Who he vaguely recalled actually calling Supergirl before he wasn't thinking of anything else other than attacking Arrow and Flash.

As they stood outside in the rain, the blonde with glasses (Felicity? that sounded right. Ponytail worked too. Nicknames were easier sometimes, less personal) came up to him, raising her umbrella to cover both of them. He gave her a tight smile, still pissed at mind control but he did appreciate the umbrella.

"So what was it like, being mind controlled?" she asked him. He only heard genuine curiosity in her voice, not a set up for a joke, so he looked at her, planning to answer honestly, when Firestorm spoke up.

"I didn't think he had a mind to be controlled."

Mick looked away from Ponytail, sighing internally, and not saying a word. Ponytail, he noticed, didn't look happy.

Then the Dominators starting taking people. Fucking aliens.

* * *

Barry couldn't believe that Mick Rory, Heatwave, of all people, compared the hero team to one of his and Snart's crews, but the sentiment was strong. Then he stopped as what Mick had said really sunk into his brain.

_Listen, Red. I don't like you. But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest._

Swallowing, Barry looked at the group. "That was actually pretty inspiring. I mean, up until the point that Mick compared us to a bunch of criminals, but..."

Vixen, the one from 1942, interrupted him, and Barry kept an ear on the conversation, but his brain was still on Mick's words

_But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest._

That sentence was written on the inside of his thigh, words that he had never been sure what they meant or what circumstances they could be said under. If they would be a first meeting or, like now, a significant time period in their lives.

But never in a million years, in any alternate Earth or alternate timeline, did he think they would be uttered by Mick Rory.

His soulmate.

That settled it. He had met his soulmate, and he had to protect him. Mick had already lost Snart, his partner in crime. He would survive losing his soulmate if they hadn't bonded. But could Barry do that to him?

_But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest._

No, he couldn't. Selfish or not, he couldn't abandon Mick, any more than he could abandon Oliver or Kara, Cisco or Caitlyn, Ray or Felicity or anyone else in the hangar. He had to stop making those decisions on his own. Especially now that he knew who his soulmate was. Flashpoint, all the other times he'd changed time, somehow hadn't changed his soulmate.

Barry owed it to Mick to be there for him now, as Mick had been waiting for him for who knew how long.

And with his friends and his soulmate at his side, there was no way they couldn't win this, right?

* * *

"Okay, I know that sometimes, Team Arrow is way too dysfunctional to be healthy in any sense of the word, but the Legends are beating us hands down."

Barry looked at Felicity as she stood at his side, watching the three teams and Supergirl celebrate the Dominators being vanquished. "What do you mean?" he asked. On Felicity's other side, Oliver looked at his teammate with a small frown on his face.

"Look at that," she said, gesturing across the room. Mick Rory stood by himself, a beer bottle in one hand, not looking at anyone in a way that Barry recognized as less of _'I don't care about you peons'_ and more of a _'I'm going to pretend that I don't care about you peons'_ attitude.

"What, Rory?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, look," Felicity insisted. As they watched, Thea wandered up to Mick, and said something. Mick responded, a short sentence but Barry guessed it wasn't anything Thea took offense at, based on the quirk of her lips. She spoke again, and Mick opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Sara Lance swooped in and threaded her arm through Thea's, leading the young archer away from Mick, not even saying a word to her teammate. Thea glanced back at Mick, who gave her an impassive look before taking a swig from his bottle.

"They've been doing that all party," Felicity said. "Ray pulled me away when I went to talk to Mick, and all the Legends have been keeping people away from him. And when we were outside, before Oliver and the others were taken by the Dominators..." She sighed. "I asked Mick what it was like to be mind controlled."

"Felicity," Oliver said with a hint of exasperation.

"Look, I was curious, okay? He seemed like the one that would tell me without getting offended. And he looked like he was about to answer when Firestorm made a comment about him not having a mind to be controlled. And there have been little jabs like that ever since they got here. I mean, Oliver, you can be rude, but you're not that cruel for no good reason."

"She's right," Barry said. "You're not cruel for no good reason. And Ray and Stein and Jax usually aren't either."

"Oh, I have an idea. Can we keep him? Heatwave, I mean," Felicity asked Oliver. He looked at her askance, and she grinned. "Oh, come on, flame thrower, your arrows, you two could have so much fun."

"He's a thief."

"Which means he can get into places that we might not be able to, see the traps we aren't expecting."

"You're all missing one important thing," Barry said slowly.

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"He's from Central. I get first dibs." He was also Barry's soulmate, but he wasn't going to admit that unless Mick wanted to.

"Hey! There's no dibs in keeping reformed criminals!" Felicity said as Barry saluted her with his glass and made his way across the room to Mick. Halfway there, Professor Stein appeared at his side.

"Barry, I was hoping to talk to you about-"

"Come find me later, professor, I really need to talk to Mick first," Barry said firmly, not letting himself be distracted from his goal, leaving a surprised Stein behind him.

Mick hadn't looked up by the time Barry reached him, but he did when Barry cleared his throat. He looked surprised. "Red."

"Mick," Barry replied. "Got a minute?"

"Got nobody else to talk to." Was that resignation he heard in Mick's voice?

"Barry," Sara Lance said, coming up to them, Ray, Stein, Jax, and Nate with her. "Sorry to interrupt, but we really need to go. Come on, Mick." She stared at him, and Mick finally gave a shrug as he let out a breath.

"Later, Red."

"Sorry, Sara," Barry said, "but I wasn't done talking to Mick. You have a time machine, you don't need to leave right now."

Sara blinked at him, clearly not expecting that response.

"While that's true," Stein said, "there have been some... developments that we need to address right away, starting here in 2016, and so we do need to leave now, with Mr. Rory," he added, turning away and heading for the _Waverider_.

Mick placed the now empty bottle on a crate and turned to follow. "Gotta follow my crew," he said softly.

Barry blew out a breath. "You could stay here, with us. Work with us," he gestured to the rest of the party. "They don't appreciate you out there, Mick. You don't need to stay with them."

He'd said it during an all-too-convenient lull in the conversation, and now everyone in the hanger was looking at them. Felicity had a grin on her face, Oliver looked stunned, as did the Legends. Team Flash looked shocked, while the rest of Team Arrow frowned.

"Barry, you can't mean that," Sara said.

"I wasn't talking to you, Sara," Barry replied. "I was talking to Mick Rory, and I'm pretty sure he's capable of answering for himself."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Jax muttered under his breath, but Barry turned a glare on him.

"Why not? He is a member of your team, isn't he? Someone you rely on to watch your back, someone you work with the protect everyone? Or is he just a convenient punching bag for your own inadequacies?"

"Barry," Ray began, but Mick stepped forward.

"You sure you want to freak out the Central City PD with me working on your team?" he rumbled.

"Yeah, I do," Barry replied. "Mick, you've been on the Legends team for a while, you've saved them, helped saved time itself. But from what I've seen, they don't seem to care if you're there or not. I do. You _know_ I do," he added, hoping that somehow, he'd said Mick's words. This had to be a significant moments, fighting Dominators.

Mick stared at him, then slowly nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Then come back to Central, work with us." Barry stared straight into Mick's eyes. "With me."

* * *

Mick stared at Red, at Barry. The Flash.

His soulmate.

Who wanted him back in Central City, on his side. Who wanted him. He didn't know what kind of bond Barry wanted, but to have his soulmate by his side... someone who _wanted_ him there, instead of just tolerating him...

"I doubt I'll really reform," he warned Barry, ignoring the voices of the _Waverider_ crew and others. "I'm a thief. I light things on fire."

"We'll work something out," Barry said, a smile curving his lips. Red was cute, he had to admit. He certainly looked happy that Mick was considering staying with him.

Mick looked up and over at Team Flash. "Your team going to be okay with me?"

"We will," the lady doctor, the one he and Snart had kidnapped, said. The others looked at her in surprise. "Hey, if I can change into something I don't recognize that's on the dark side, who says he can't change into something that's, well, somewhat on the light side?"

The tech kid shrugged. "As long as he doesn't set me on fire."

Robin Hood came up to Barry as Sara grabbed Mick's arm. "Barry, can we talk about this?" the Arrow asked just as Sara hissed, "Mick, what are you doing?"

He looked down at her. "Leaving," he said bluntly. "Red's right, you don't want me. You're ashamed and embarrassed of me, but none of you have the guts to do what Snart did and maroon me somewhere. At least here, I'm wanted." He looked up at the others. "Thought you'd all be leaping for joy to get rid of me."

"You can't just decide to abandon the mission," Stein hissed.

"Why not?" Mick asked, crossing his arms.

The professor sputtered.

"Seriously, why not?" Ponytail asked as she came forward. "Look, you guys have been treating him like an unwanted intruder since you landed. Why can't he leave? Unless you've been keeping him around for some nefarious purpose, like sacrificing him to a fiery time god." She paused, eyes wide. "You're not planning on sacrificing him to a fiery time god, are you?" she asked.

"No, we're not," Haircut said. He looked at Ponytail. "It's just... he's part of our team."

"You were part of our team once and left us," she replied. "Why can't he do the same?"

"What's so important that Mick can't leave you?" Skirt asked as she came over, looking a lot more buttoned up than before, but she was frowning.

"We can't risk him turning back into Chronos without us there to help contain him," Blondie finally said.

Everyone frowned, but Mick started laughing, harder than he had in months. He reached out and put a hand on his soulmate's shoulder for balance, ignoring the feeling of _right_ that went through him. "Blondie, who says I ever _stopped_ being Chronos?"

The Legends all looked at him with varying stages of horror and surprise. "But I thought Snart..."

"Snart," Mick said to Jax, "and I beat the snot out of each other for each other's sake, not yours, and not because he wanted to get Chronos out of me. Chronos is still in here," he gestured to his head. "How do you think I know how the fly the time ship?" he asked them. "You want me to act dumb, I act dumb, but I'm tired of it. If Red and his crew want me, well, maybe it's time to change crews."

"Mick, we can't risk that," Sara said. "We know what you're like as Chronos, and we know the _Waverider_ can hold you."

"Like I couldn't get out of the _Waverider_ ," he snorted, enjoying their expressions of worry. Mick looked at Barry, debating something. "I said yours?" he finally asked, not wanting to be open about soulmates if Barry didn't want to be.

The other man nodded. "I wasn't going to say anything until you wanted to."

"Fair enough." He liked that, someone letting him decide the relationship.

"You're soulmates?" Nate asked, looking between the two. Score one for Pretty, figuring that out.

"No way," Ponytail breathed out, practically bouncing. "No wonder you called dibs on him then." Mick looked at Barry, who was looking at ground, blushing. It was a good look on the man.

"Soulmates?" Skirt asked, looking at Arrow.

"Everyone on our earth has a soulmate, a person they're destined to be with, either as lovers or extremely close friends. We have words that are said to us by our soulmates, when we first meet. But Barry," Arrow added, "I thought you and Rory had met before."

"We had, but-" Barry began.

"We're not first meeting soulmates, we're significant time soulmates," Mick finished.

Tech guy, Cisco, had gotten closer. "Man, those are really rare, almost as rare as sibling soulmates. And to have both of those around Team Flash? That's awesome."

"Sibling soulmates?" Arrow asked. "You know a pair?"

"Yeah, um," Cisco looked at Mick. "Glider told me about her soulmate, asked me not to say anything about who it was or that they were, well..."

"Snart and his sister were sibling soulmates," Mick said as everyone looked at Cisco. "I saw her after Snart died. Guess she also told him about it. Glad that someone else can help her," he said to Cisco. The man blinked, but gave him a shy smile. Mick was glad that Lisa hadn't been alone, that someone else knew she was mourning Len as her brother and soulmate.

"So, I guess it's settled," Ray, haircut said. "Mick is staying here with Barry. Do you need us to help you get your stuff from the _Waverider_?" He looked at Mick, a smile on his face that looked a little too forced. Mick couldn't tell if the man was happy for him or not.

"It's not settled, Ray," Lance began, but the billionaire turned on her.

"It is settled, Sara. Have you ever seen what happens when you separate soulmates, even if it's before they've bonded, when it's not by their choice? I have, it's not pretty. You know soulmates don't like to be that far apart from each other for long. Snart and his sister had her entire lifetime to work on being separated. Barry and Mick just found each other. I won't be a party to doing to them what Darhk did to me," he bit out, staring at her.

"Ray?" Sara asked softly. "What do you mean?"

"You found your soulmate before Darhk held you captive?" Ponytail asked, frowning.

"We were significant moment soulmates," Haircut said, looking at Mick and Barry. "And then I spent an entire year locked up, without my soulmate, and we never had the chance to bond. I don't think they ever know, or if they did, they didn't care," Ray said bitterly, sounding very much unlike his usual self. Huh. No wonder Haircut never sounded happy about soulmates.

He was about to offer to track down Haircut's soulmate and put the fear of Chronos in them, because they'd turned down his partner, when someone spoke up.

"I knew," Arrow said, stunning everyone. Ponytail's head whipped around so fast she smacked herself with her own hair. "I knew," he said again, "but you were with Felicity, and you both were _happy_ and I couldn't be the reason to end that for either of you. And then you were gone, and it was too late."

"You said nothing after I came back," Haircut growled.

"I was afraid," Arrow admitted. "I had lost you once, and I knew losing you again, if we bonded, would kill me."

Haircut stared at him, then turned and walked away without a word. Arrow opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, looking down. Ponytail smacked him hard.

"You and I are going to discuss this," she told him, before taking off after Haircut. Robin Hood -Oliver looked at them, a stunned expression on his face, then headed the other way. Skirt hurried after him, as did his sister.

"Ray and Oliver?" Lance asked quietly, surprised, when the others were out of sight.

"Huh," Barry said. "I did not see that one coming."

"I don't think any of us did," Pretty added.

"Doesn't change anything," Mick rumbled. "Whether those two make up or not, I'm staying here."

"Mick," Lance sighed.

"Why are you so eager to keep Mick on the ship, considering you act like you don't want him there?" Snow asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because I asked her to," a new voice, a very familiar voice, drawled. Mick turned around, staring as Len, in full Captain Cold gear, came out from behind some crates. "Hello, Mick," he said.

"Snart!" Barry exclaimed from next to Mick.

"In the flesh, as it were. Sorry, Sara, but it didn't sound like they were going to believe you," Len told her.

Mick didn't know what else was said as he began walking toward Len. "Surprise?" the other man said, starting to look wary.

Not responding, Mick punched Len square in the jaw, knocking the man backward. There a blur and Barry caught Len before he hit the ground. "Mick!" Barry protested.

"That was for Lisa," Mick told them as Len, rubbing his jaw, stood with Barry's help. "I'll get my own back on you later. And get away from my soulmate."

Len took a step away from Barry, holding up a hand. "I deserved that. But I did die, Mick. Then fate had other plans for me."

"Plans you couldn't tell anyone about? Not even your sister?" Cisco asked, sounding pissed. Clearly he was closer to Lisa than he had let on. Good. She deserved someone to look out for her when Len wouldn't.

"No, because Fate is a bitch," Len said. "Look, bottom line is Fate put me in place of my younger self to be recruited by the ever so trustworthy team of Damien Darhk, Eobard Thawne, and Malcolm Merlyn. They're trying to obtain something called the Spear of Destiny, so they can turn the world into their own personal criminal playground. Fate doesn't like that idea, so she sent me."

"And you told Sara, but no one else, that you were back," Barry said. His soulmate didn't sound impressed, coming to stand next to Mick with his arms crossed.

"I couldn't, because my so called partners in this endeavor are time travelers themselves. I couldn't risk that information getting out to too many people. Sara was the easiest to grab when I did."

"And the only reason he contacted me is because he needed me to stop trying to kill Darhk as it was causing problems on his end," Lance said.

Mick looked at his former partner. God knew he was happy to see Len alive again, but this wasn't what he'd wanted. Or any of them had wanted.

"Mick," Len said with his usual emphasis on the last two letters. "I need your help on this. I need you on the _Waverider_."

"Why?" Mick crossed his arms as well and stared at Len. "Why do you need _me_?"

"Because if we can't stop the terrible trio from getting the Spear, I'm going to need someone else on the inside with me. And there is no one else they'd believe that would turn on the _Waverider_ other than you." Len's gaze swept the other members of the team. "It appears they've noticed that the rest of the team has been treating you badly, and they figure that will make it easy for me to convince you to join us."

Barry turned to Sara. "Tell me that you haven't been encouraging this in order to put Mick in that position if Len needs him."

Mick looked over to see her looking uncomfortable. The other members of the team were also looking at her in varying expressions. Barry shook his head. "Cisco, you know how to reach me. Snart, I thought better of you. Mick, hold on."

Barry grabbed him and the world became a blur. They came to a stop minutes later, in an apartment that Mick didn't recognize. He took a moment to get his bearings, though traveling by Flash wasn't nearly as bad as traveling by time ship. "Okay," Mick said.

"Sorry," Barry replied, "but if I didn't get us out of there I was about to punch either Sara or Snart or both."

"I wouldn't have objected." He really wouldn't have. They would have deserved it.

"Yeah, but you still have to possibly work with those people."

"Possibly?"

"If you want to go back. I mean, Snart's plan makes sense, but... I can't exactly be happy that he wanted them to treat you like that. And I felt that way even when I didn't know you were my soulmate, Mick."

Mick nodded, stepping closer to Barry. He reached up and put his hand on Barry's shoulder. "Look, Red, I won't... I won't push for any type of soulmate relationship that you don't want. I'm just... glad that it's you instead of someone I couldn't stand."

Barry nodded. "I'm glad it's you, too. I mean..." he sighed. "It's nice to have someone that understands the secret identity, the need to save the world that I have. And yeah, Mick, I know you're not going to change and I'll probably be stopping you from some heists, but if we can at least set some rules?"

"No stealing while you're on duty?"

"That would be ideal," Barry said. He paused, pacing the room. "I... I'm worried, about what Snart said. I mean... I reset time once, and I'm glad it didn't mess with my soulmate words, but would this do it?"

"I wouldn't let it," Mick said fiercely. "If I have anything to say about it, our bond won't end."

Barry looked back at him. "I didn't have my words in Flashpoint. I was so glad that they were back, in the same place, when I reset time. I can't...."

Mick moved forward and pulled his soulmate into a hug. "Then let's bond, so no matter what, fate will make sure we're together."

Burying his face in Mick's chest, Barry said nothing for long moments. "What kind of bond?"

"All in, Red. If you want, I'm all in."

* * *

Barry breathed in the ash and smoke and alcohol scent of his soulmate and thought about being soulmates with Mick Rory. About being lovers with Mick Rory. Barry knew he was bisexual, that wasn't the issue. It was just that, Mick had never been on his "to do" list, mostly because of the whole "likes to steal things and light stuff on fire" bit.

But Fate had intended them for one another.

Pulling back, he looked up at Rory. "And if I wanted all in as well? I know you're not a hearts and flowers kinda guy, Mick."

"Beer and donuts, Red."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "So, I should buy you a brewery as a bond courting gift?" Barry wondered if Mick would even want the old fashioned courting gift before bonding that was usual between couples. Granted, these days, they weren't big items like they had been. Simple jewelry often sufficed.

Mick tilted his head. "There's a thought." He looked back down at Barry. "I'd settle for upgrades to my weapon."

"That's more Cisco's realm of expertise, and he and I, well," Barry looked away.

"Yeah, he's not exactly your biggest fan right now. Looks like we've both got people who don't want us around." Mick sighed. "Considering I'd probably have to steal you a gift, you may not want anything I could give you."

"I guess it depends on what you stole, and if it could be returned without messing up history too much."

"Now that sounds like a challenge," Mick said.

Barry smiled. "Do you really want to wait to bond until we can find courting gifts?"

"Nah, we can always wait until our first anniversary. But wait, what about that pretty reporter of yours?"

"We broke up," Barry said simply.

"I'm sorry," Mick told him.

"It wasn't because of the soulmate thing. We've both known we likely didn't have each other's words. She never referred to anyone as a 'crew' for one thing."

Mick chuckled. "No, I don't guess she would." Mick sobered, looking down at Barry. The speedster noticed that they hadn't moved from being in each other's arms. He didn't mind, it felt good to be held by someone else, as much as he was holding them. Mick leaned down, and Barry moved upwards, their lips meeting. Fire ignited speed, and neither man thought much beyond the need to bond, to get a physically close as flesh would allow, trying to devour each other and lose themselves in their bonded.

When Barry eventually resurfaced, he and Mick were in in bed, naked, and spent, Mick's hand curled lightly around Barry's wrist as they lay on their backs. It wasn't possessive, just... reassuring. In the back of his mind, Barry could _feel_ Mick's contentment and satiation. "Wow," he said aloud.

"Yeah." Mick shifted a little, but his hand remained around Barry's wrist. "I can feel you. In my head."

"I can, too."

"That common?"

"I have no idea."

"Huh."

"It'll make it interesting if you go back to _Waverider_ ," Barry mused. "Would I feel you if you're back in time, or in the future? What about when you're traveling between places?"

"Or if we go back to Vanishing Point, which is outside of time itself," Mick said. "The Time Bastards never talked about soulmates. Pretty sure they didn't believe in them, considering Rip's wife had to leave to stay with him and they were soulmates. It's part of the why the Time Bastards didn't like Rip. He wasn't entirely theirs." Mick shifted so he was on his side to face Barry. "They knew I hadn't bonded with mine, so I was safe. I guess they figured I wouldn't meet you when I was working for them."

"They don't sound like nice people." Barry turned his head to watch Mick.

"They weren't."

Leaning up, Barry kissed his soulmate. "Glad you got away from them."

Mick kissed him back, pressing Barry into the mattress, and Barry responded, feeling Mick's desire for him, Mick's need to be close to someone who loved him, faults and all, mixing with Barry's own need. Or maybe that was Mick reflecting Barry's need?

"You're thinking too much, Red," Mick said as he broke the kiss, frowning.

"Sorry," Barry said sheepishly. "I'm a scientist, I like trying to figure things out." He frowned. "Are you always going to call me Red? I mean, it might..."

Mick sighed, pressing his lips to Barry's forehead in a tender kiss. "I like nicknames. Usually they fit people better, in my mind. Leonard was always Leonard, or Len, same with Lisa, but I met them long before this was a world full of people with code names. And I didn't know your name until pretty recently. Len never told me, because he promised."

Barry swallowed at that. "I like it, it's just, outside of the suit..."

"Could risk your identity. Got it." Mick grinned. "How about I call you Doll? They've made some of you, haven't they?"

"Hey!" Barry protested with a laugh. "They're action figures!"

Mick snorted. "They're dolls. And I'm going to call you that." His amusement came through their bond loud and clear, and Barry smiled.

"I can live with that." He pulled Mick back in for a kiss, and they lost themselves again in each other.

* * *

When Mick and Barry arrived back at the STAR Labs hanger the next afternoon, Sara, Oliver, and Ray were in a loud argument on the other side of the room, Felicity standing nearby looking unhappy.

"What's going on?" Barry asked the rest of the teams. 

Kara smiled brightly at him. "So, it appears that when Felicity went to talk to Ray last night, they discovered they are soulmates as well. Significant time ones, I think it's called?"

"Yeah, and Felicity had said Oliver's second soulmate words, and he later said hers, so the three of them are in a triad and man, Ray gets all the good looking ones," Jax said admiringly.

"Sara doesn't want to let Ray leave, but she doesn't want Oliver and Felicity to come along because they're needed in Star City," a familiar drawl said, and Barry reached out to take Mick's hand, feeling Mick's pain at hearing Snart's voice through their bond.

"They're bonded," Nate said. "She may not have a choice."

"None of us may have a choice, if the Spear of Destiny gets into the hands of Thawne and his not-so-merry men," Snart reminded them. His sister stood next to him, looking pissed at her brother, but happy to see him. At least he'd done that for Lisa, Barry thought.

Barry looked at Mick. They'd talked last night, about Snart being back, about the mission. Mick wanted to continue, to be the ace in the hole to save the world if it was rewritten. But he wasn't willing for it to continue as it had, with the insults and jabs.

Sara stalked back over, leaving the triad alone. "Ray's coming back with us, Oliver and Felicity are staying here, but we'll be stopping back in 2016 as often as we can to let them deal with their bond. Yours, too, if you're coming with us, Mick."

"Depends," Mick said. "Not coming back if I'm going to be treated like trash again."

Sara had the grace to look away at that. "Sorry, Mick," she said.

"Look, I get it, off the ship, you may have to, to keep up appearances. Just, not on the ship."

"I think we can manage that," Sara said, looking at the rest of the team. They all nodded.

Barry squeezed Mick's hand, and Mick looked over at him, smiling. "So, you're going back then?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, Doll. Can't let Thawne and the others destroy what we have."

Pulling his mate into a kiss, Barry was vaguely aware of the others retreating to give them privacy. "You'd better come back," Barry said when they parted for air.

"Do my best, Doll. You stay safe here."

"Do my best," Barry said. "God, I'll miss you, Mick."

"You too, Barry."

Sara called for them, and they hurried over. The Legends made their final goodbyes, more long kisses between Barry and Mick, and Ray, Oliver, and Felicity, before the team left for the _Waverider_. 

"If he doesn't come back," Barry told Snart as they watched the ship take off.

"I'll make sure he does, Scarlet," Snart replied.

"You better." Barry walked away from the man, still upset he was the cause of what Mick had gone through. He joined Oliver and Felicity, the two of them giving him bittersweet smiles.

"They'll come back," Felicity said. "They have to, right?"

"Yeah," Barry said, "they have to."

"They'll look out for each other," Oliver said. "Until they're back with us."

Barry looked up at where the _Waverider_ had disappeared. "Until they're back with us," he echoed.

Mick would come back to him. He had to. And if he didn't, well…

Mick was worth another Flashpoint.


End file.
